Written by

Sean T. McMann

Poughkeepsie Journal

COLLEGE PARK, MD. — A day before her Red Foxes opened the NCAA tournament, senior Elizabeth Beynnon said rebounding would be “a primary focus” for the Marist College women’s basketball team, adding that crashing the glass had been “a weakness” for the squad.

The Spartans exploited that “weakness” Saturday.

While fifth-seeded Michigan State outrebounded 12th-seeded Marist 30-25, the Spartans also held the Red Foxes to one offensive board in the game, and no second-chance points.

“Michigan State did a great job rebounding today,” guard Sydney Coffey said after a 55-47 loss ended her freshman season. “They crashed the boards, offensively, and that’s why we only had one offensive rebound.

“They were all around the boards while we were just heading back to play defense.”

In the first half, Marist missed 15 shots and Michigan State grabbed the rebound on 14 of them; Leanne Ockenden’s 3-point try on the Red Foxes’ final possession before the break went out of bounds without a rebound.

Not that Marist gave up without a battle on the boards. On the contrary, the Red Foxes finished with 24 defensive rebounds — one more than the Spartans — and allowed Michigan State to pull down just seven offensive rebounds.

The problem, Marist head coach Brian Giorgis said, was that Michigan State scored seven second-chance points off those seven rebounds.

“When we needed a defensive rebound, we didn’t get them. And it wasn’t all day; it was just those few times,” said the coach, alluding to a pair of late Michigan State buckets that came off rebounds. “That’s the thing that’s frustrating. If someone had told me we’d hold them to seven offensive rebounds, I’d have said, ‘Great!’ But three or four of those offensive rebounds killed us.”